Walter Pagel

Walter Pagel (1898 to 1983) was a German pathologist and medical historian, born in Berlin. After his doctorate there in 1922 he became a professor at Heidelberg in 1931 and later left Germany for England, where from 1939 he served as a consultant pathologist at Central Middlesex Hospital and then at Clare Hall Hospital in Barnet until his retirement in 1967. In retirement he devoted himself to writing the history of medicine, concentrating on Paracelsus, Jan Baptist van Helmont and William Harvey. His books include a study of Van Helmont's science and medicine, a major volume on Paracelsus, and works on Harvey's biological ideas, and he received honours including the George Sarton Medal and the Robert Koch Prize.